The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents declined to answer questions Wednesday after a 2 1/2 hour closed meeting to discuss information from an investigation into sensitive personnel issues.

"Today’s meeting covered information that is confidential and related to ongoing personnel issues, and I can’t comment on any of these unresolved personnel issues," Chairman Leslie Rainbolt-Forbes said after the meeting on OU's Oklahoma City campus.

"Our goal is to ensure the investigation’s integrity and any comment would be highly inappropriate," said Rainbolt-Forbes, who read from a prepared statement that ended with, "No regent will make a comment nor a statement nor will anyone answer questions.

NORMAN — The University of Oklahoma announced Thursday the first layoffs of the new year — 28 positions on the Norman and Health Sciences Center campuses expected to result in an annual savings of more than $2 million.

The reduction in force came a week after OU’s chief financial officer reported OU is “operating on a very thin margin right now” as officials continue to look for efficiencies department by department.

A Norman man has been charged with three counts of felony embezzlement for allegedly stealing high-grade aluminum from his employer and selling it over the course of more than four years.

Michael Angelo Fabri, 56, is accused of stealing more than $100,000 in aluminum from MD Building Products in Oklahoma City and selling the material to Metal Check, a scrap recycling center also based in Oklahoma City.

More than 420 such transactions took place from September 2014 to December 2018, police reported in a court affidavit.

The University of Oklahoma’s financial condition remains “very troubling,” despite steps taken since July 1 to improve the situation, OU’s chief financial officer said in a report to the OU Board of Regents.

“We have made some serious progress in the last seven months to correcting this,” CFO Ken Rowe said.